CFL underperformed Randy Ambrosie’s goal to double league revenues; franchise values ‘flat’

Courtesy: CFL

Outgoing Canadian Football League commissioner Randy Ambrosie made a bold statement in his first Grey Cup press conference seven years ago.

In 2017, Ambrosie stated with confidence he wanted the three-down league to double its revenues. There had been reports about the CFL’s yearly revenue coming in around $200 million. The commish did not correct or dispute that number when asked directly at his final State of the League address.

“Yeah, we didn’t double it. I can tell you that’s an area that has been talked about recently. It’s an area where we did underperform,” Ambrosie said. “We have had growth in our revenues. Game day revenues in the league are up seven percent this year. We have seen growth in our league revenues.”

The CFL touted a 25 percent increase in average game day revenue and a 13 percent uptick in average tickets distributed for the 2024 regular season in Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal. The B.C. Lions had the team’s largest total attendance since 2014, the Argonauts since 2016 and Alouettes since 2015 with a 60 percent increase in La Belle Province since 2021.

“We’ve grown our revenues, not nearly to the extent I would have hoped back in 2017. The COVID crisis really did knock the wind out of our sails and slow us down. After coming out of COVID in 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024 bodes well for the future,” Ambrosie said.

“You have to build a solid base, that’s what we’ve done. Our sponsorships punch above their weight, that gives us room for optimism in the future. How do we harness the potential? In many ways, we over-perform on the amount of exposure that we create for our partnerships.”

Ambrosie said the single biggest avenue for improving financial inflow going forward could be media rights. It’s estimated Bell Media pays the CFL around $50 million per season to be the three-down league’s exclusive broadcaster. The league’s agreements with TSN, CTV, RDS and CBS Sports Network expire after the 2026 season.

“We are hopeful that when these media rights that are all coterminous expire there’s potential for improved revenue. That’s the big lever that we have to pull,” Ambrosie said.

Increased revenue would boost franchise values. As other pro sports leagues in North America have seen growth up and to the right, it’s difficult to clearly understand how much CFL teams are worth.

According to a report, Stelco bought a 40 percent share in the Hamilton Sports Group, which owns the Tiger-Cats and Canadian Premier League team, Forge FC, and holds a Tim Hortons Field lease, for roughly $20 million.

Amar Doman, Pierre Karl Peladeau and Larry Thompson have recently overtaken ownership in B.C., Montreal and Edmonton respectively. To date, no sale prices have been reported or bandied about behind the scenes for the Lions, Als and Elks.

According to Ambrosie, the most fair representation of current franchise valuations would be “flat.” The commish said the league dealt with a “somewhat constant cycle” of having to worry about a “potential crisis” when it comes to team ownership, but believes those days are in the past.

“This year with Larry Thompson taking ownership of the Edmonton Elks, that solidifies the compliment of our ownership around the league,” Ambrosie said. “This foundation bodes well for the future of franchise values.”